A video recently went viral of a poorly attended classroom party thrown by a college professor for his students. It showed a handful of bored kids, plenty of empty seats, and the professor sitting at his desk surrounded by unclaimed holiday gift bags.
It was posted on Twitter and the caption read, “My professor threw a party instead of having a final, and no one showed up.”
My professor threw a party instead of having a final and no one showed up😢💔 pic.twitter.com/knwS3xDfmM
— Sydney (@sydneyarlt) December 5, 2018
Turns out there was NO party. The professor had given his students an assignment to do something that would go viral. A student named Sydney Arlt came up with the dud party idea. It worked, and the entire class got an A . . . thanks to her.
I am gratified by all the well-wishes. But… This video was made as part of an assignment in MED130. It is fake (many clues). The point of the assignment is to “go viral” in order to study viralness — especially as it plays on the emotions in the emotional medium of video. https://t.co/ouwPg3mpg6
— Andrew R. Cline PhD (@arcline) December 6, 2018
